Christian Chefs Fellowship - Past Newsletters

OUTLINE:
           Welcome, including letter from Ira (He's home!)
           Christianity in the Kitchen - "Good News for all Creation, Vegetarianism as Stewardship"
           Recipe Contests (For Professionals Only)
           Featured Recipe - Rachel's Stir Fried Veggies
           Recent Job Listings - Several new
           Hints and Tips - Keeping Guacamole Fresh
           Featured Website - VegSource.com
           Chef to Chef - Looking for new ways to cook in large batches
           A Little Something Extra - Giving 100%
           A Merry Heart - "Cooking Class"
           In Closing

Hello again to everyone! I trust it's as breathtakingly beautiful and awe-inspiring in your part of the country and world as it is here in the Ozarks! The dogwood trees are in bloom as is almost everything else. Many have already eaten of the "fruit" of their gardens -- some of the root crops planted in very early spring that withstand light freezes. Here in the Ozarks, you know it's spring when you get to swallow your first forkful of "Poke Sallet" (Poke Salad) which grows wild around here. We in the culinary industry love whipping up all the classic gourmet delights and experimenting with our own new one-of-a-kind creations, but we all also know there's nothing quite like all the old homemade "comfort" foods that everyone craves, and that a lot of very successful restaurants have returned to. (Ahhhhh, how many people can resist pan-fried potatoes with onions and a helping of pinto beans that have been simmered all day, served with a chunk of hot, steamy cornbread? Not many!) Now if you haven't tried Poke Sallet, you don't know what you're missing!

We're excited! Because our director is finally back on home soil! His trip to Europe is over and he's ready to get back to devoting lots of time to Christian Chefs Fellowship. I'll let him tell you in his own words:

Hi Everybody! I last included a message in the Newsletter when I was leaving Europe for Australia, and until last week Australia is where I've been. God allowed me a bit of a long overdo vacation with my grandmother in Australia for some of that time, then opened up a chance for me to get some experience working with one of Sydney's top chefs. When in France, I was almost positive God had for me to work next in an Italian restaurant, so I tried my absolute hardest to get a job there. I knew a great many Italian chefs from working with them in the south of France, but God just didn't allow any of the jobs I was trying for to work out, closing every door regarding my working in Italy. What I didn't realize was that the vision was still right -- and God's next restaurant for me would be a fabulous Italian one. While at my Grandmother's house, I discovered that her hairdresser's brother-in-law was one of Sydney's top Italian chefs. One thing led to another -- and I ended up working under him for 4 weeks! (Coincidence? I think not!) Even though not having a working visa meant that I worked there without pay, as I also did in France, it was truly fabulous experience and I don't regret any moment of it.

And as of last week, I'm back in the States! I'm unsure exactly what God has for me for work just yet, but am looking around the West coast for a summer job. Then, starting next Fall, I'm seriously considering Bible College (although not yet positive). No, I'm not intending to become a pastor, and it's not necessarily for CCF either. I believe God wants every Christian to get some solid education, for even Jesus himself worked on that for about the first 30 years of His life before His few short, but powerful years of ministry. Therefore, my priority is for my personal growth in Christ, but I expect that it will help me greatly with the involvement God has for me with CCF. And I'm hoping that in the not-so-distant future, I'll be able to sign on full-time with the ministry God started through me just a few years back.

With my return, I will be spending a great deal of time with CCF, and am expecting many changes will be made in the near future. Already we've re-opened the Job Listings area of our website -- instead of posting your jobs in the Message Boards, just follow links to the Employment area of the website to post jobs and to look for jobs. If you post your job openings for cooks and chefs there, we will leave the listing on our website until the opening has been filled. Additionally, your posting will be included in the next CCF Newsletter, which goes out to our more than 400 (and growing daily) subscribers.

I will be taking over editing the Newsletter once again also. At this time, we will keep it coming out every other month. Before I left for Europe, almost all my time with CCF was put into the newsletter. Now that I'm back, I'll be spending more time with other aspects of CCF, trusting it won't be too long until God brings more volunteers to help with the newsletter (and hopefully some other aspects of the Fellowship). I believe God wants much of my time in the near future to be spent on the expansion of local chapters of CCF, finding more volunteers, and working with the many visions God has provided recently to me and others, while continuing helping to write the Christianity in the Kitchen newsletter article. I would like to share more with what those visions are, but currently I believe God would have me wait. It takes much more faith to allow God to provide others with the same vision(s) rather than trying to tell people what their vision is. Therefore, I welcome anyone to contact me if God has given you a vision for helping to minister to other Christian cooks and chefs in our industry in whatever way, preparing us all to bear witness to His name throughout the ungodliness of today's kitchens.

So prepare yourself to be a witness to all God has in store for CCF! He has personally taught me an unbelievably large amount about Himself in the past 10 months I've been away. Through all that He has shown me, I've caught just a glimpse of all the wonderful things He has in store for us in the near future, and as in ALL things God does, they'll be amazing!

God bless, and please keep CCF in your prayers, that through all circumstances we can continue to keep God at the center of this ministry He started. As Jesus himself said in Matthew 9:37-38 "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

We here at Christian Chefs Fellowship would like to send our love and prayers for a speedy recovery to Diane Boone, one of our staff writers. She has had recent knee surgery which was successful, but unfortunately has suffered a couple of falls, which could be a setback to her recovery. So we are asking our subscribers to intercede before the Lord on her behalf. We are all "family" and we know she would pray for you in the same situation.

We decided that we would focus on vegetarianism in this issue of the newsletter. It is, after all, a lifestyle that many more people are giving consideration to these days. You will find lots of valuable information and resources here -- and we hope you enjoy everything we've included for you.

I'd like to take this opportunity as RETIRING editor of this newsletter to make a couple of comments and maybe ask a question. Some of you have been with us almost since the onset of this publication. You've seen us grow from a few comments and paragraphs and a web page or two to several new services, programs, a more comprehensive newsletter with several subjects, and a web site that offers lots of resources and links to other quality Christian and culinary sources. I'd like to know if you've been blessed by all this? I know I have. I've learned SO much - not just about Christian and culinary subjects, but about PEOPLE! In spite of our differences, we are all so much alike. We all laugh, we all cry, we all hurt, we all need help at times, we all need encouragement, we all need love, we all need to know that we are needed. It's been a joy to work with CCF (no, I'm not quitting - just shifting gears). But working closely with our director, I probably know more about the needs of CCF than anyone else, except him. So I'd like to encourage you subscribers to do TWO things, if possible. First, drop Ira a note and let him know how much you appreciate this ministry that God has called him to and that he has been so faithful to carry out. Secondly, if it is at all possible, send a small donation ($1) to CCF so that some of the expenses that he has borne out-of-pocket will be lightened, AND so that some of the new programs that God has put on his heart can be implemented. We tend to think that if we can't send a big donation, that it's just not worth it. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Being an avid gardener, I'm a firm believer in planting seed ... because if you don't sow seed, there can't be a harvest! Seedtime and harvest -- it's a spiritual principle. That's how God blesses us! When we sow, we reap a harvest, with His blessing! If you feel like you've been blessed by CCF and would like to plant seed into this ministry so it can grow and multiply, then send your "seed" to the address at the end of this newsletter -- and accept my humble thanks.

Well, that about says it all. After this issue of the newsletter goes out, I will be handing the reins back over to Ira. I'm looking forward to all the exciting changes and things that are going to be happening.

a reflective, informative personal essay
by Nathan Braun, President
Christian Vegetarian Association
http://www.christianveg.com

When I signed up for the Christian Chef's newsletter, I offered to share with readers how I've been coming to see that a move towards vegetarianism can show better stewardship of not only animals, nor just our own physical health -- but also the natural environment and the world's hungry. I see plant-based diets as expressing a loving, careful Christian concern to live in peace and harmony with all Creation (importantly including fellow humans). The Bible shows God originally intended vegetarianism (Gen. 1:29-30) and prophesies its return (Isaiah 11:6-9), when "the wolf will dwell with the lamb... the lion will eat straw like the ox... and they shall neither hurt nor destroy in all [God's] holy mountain."

These passages had a significant effect on me when I was reading the Bible growing up. I carefully noted, reading the first chapters of Genesis, that God's preferred diet for humans was indeed vegetarian, and animals were originally made to be Adam's companions and helpers (Genesis 2:18 &19) -- certainly not his dinner (Gen. 1:29-30). As I will show, although we (obviously!) can eat meat, vegetarianism likely remains God's "dietary ideal" to this day. While I did not fully appreciate it at the time I first read these passages, it is now clear the diet generally represents better stewardship of all Creation especially in light of the current conditions I outline below.

As I further discovered, the Biblical basis for vegetarianism is surprisingly strong. In addition to the powerful Biblical images of a peaceful Paradise, all four major vegetarian concerns are also firmly rooted in ethical principles (such as stewardship) derived from the Bible. Vegetarians claim their diet relieves (in order of relative Biblical emphasis):

1) world hunger;
2) human health;
3) the environment; and,
4) the suffering of all.

Before we proceed, your first, indeed preliminary, objection may very well be "Hey! Jesus ate meat." Yes, He did: Luke 24:43 records Jesus eating fish (which He also fed others) -- but meat consumption today involves substantially more resources, and thus entirely different ethical (including environmental and health) considerations, than in Jesus' -- or in any other -- time. This is probably because we, collectively, eat way more animals than at any other time in world history.

"Every twenty-four-hour day, citizens of the United States of America consume 2,250 head of cattle in the form of McDonald's hamburgers." -- Douglas John Hall, first sentence of "Something is Wrong" in Imaging God: Dominion as Stewardship

As Christian chefs are surely aware, the sheer quantity of animals we eat is staggering. EIGHT BILLION ANIMALS (almost one and a half times Earth's human population!) are slaughtered annually to be eaten, in the U.S. alone: 660,000 every hour. (Each year, the average American consumes 24-37 animals - nearly twice his or her weight in meat each year: over 200 lbs., consuming approximately 11 cattle, 3 lambs and sheep, 23 hogs, 45 turkeys, 1,100 chickens and 862 pounds of fish in a 72-year lifetime). No wonder animals produce 130 times as much waste as humans in America, with one hog farm in Utah equaling the output of Los Angeles (Time, Nov. 18, 1999, pp. 74-78)!

Even worse, however, is that most of these animals are hardly raised in what we might call placid, "family farm" conditions -- which simply could not accommodate such massive consumption. Far from it: modern animal agriculture has developed what have been called intensive "factory farms," which maximize financial profit, often at the animals' expense.

God forbids inhumane slaughter or cruelty towards beasts of burden (Exodus 23:5, Deuteronomy 22:6-7, 25:4) -- thus Jews have rightly established principles of animal protection (there are more faith-based vegetarians in Israel than any other country, except India -- see Judaism & Vegetarianism by Dr. Richard Schwartz).

But in factory farms, animals suffer greatly from stressful crowding, barren environments that frustrate their instinctive drives, and manipulations without anesthesia, such as de-beaking chicks, cutting off pigs' tails, and castrating and branding cattle (Erik Marcus, Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating).

Farmers routinely use antibiotics to prevent infections in crowded, stressed animals, and this promotes dangerous antibiotic-resistance among bacteria. You can prevent infections by cooking meat, but this generates cancer-causing heterocyclic amines, the most dangerous type of free radical. Farmers also add hormones, harmful to human health, to stimulate excessive muscle development in animals, causing painful lameness. Slaughter typically involves terror and, often, great pain (Gail Eisnitz, Slaughterhouse).

Raising so many animals this way is also harmful to the environment. In the U.S., it takes far more energy, water, and other resources to feed a meat-eater than a vegetarian: often approximately 5-10 times as much! Statistics vary, but by helping preserve scarce resources and minimizing environmental degradation, vegetarianism is well recognized by environmentalists to show respect for Creation. There is even an entire charity, EarthSave, dedicated to educating consumers about meat's impact on the environment, encouraging the public to "Help save the earth. Three times a day." (Visit their websites at http://www.earthsave.org and http://www.earthsave.bc.ca)

The valuable resources meat production squanders limit what Christians can offer to the hungry. While many millions die of hunger annually and many more suffer malnutrition, worldwide one-third of all grain is fed to animals being raised for slaughter; in the U.S., the proportion is nearly three-fourths. Converting grains to meat wastes about 80-90% of grains; proteins, 96% of their calories, and 100% of their carbohydrates and fiber (Keith Akers, A Vegetarian Sourcebook). It is ironic that vegetarians, who are often accused of caring more about animals than humans, encourage a diet that helps feed more humans (not animals) a more healthy diet.

A pure vegetarian diet cuts cancer risk by about 40% (Cancer Res. 1975; dramatically reduces heart disease risk (Dr. Neal Barnard, Food for Life), and helps people lose weight (Barnard, Turn Off the Fat Genes). As Paul says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?" (1 Corinthians 6:19). What Paul might not have fully appreciated is how vegetarian diets have been well established to promote longevity and health.
[ http://www.eatright.org/adap1197.html ]

Let me conclude by encouraging you that personal meatless diets may be less difficult than you think to incorporate into elaborate menus, especially for international cuisine.

If you would like to learn more, please visit the new website of the Christian Vegetarian Association, at:

http://www.All-Creatures.org
http://www.JesusVeg.com
http://www.VegSource.com
http://www.VRG.org

Please note: Listed here are three contests for PROFESSIONALS ONLY in the culinary industry. There are many more contests available for non-professionals as well, some of them ongoing or being repeated on a monthly basis. If you're interested in those, here's one excellent website to check out:

NATIONAL TURKEY FEDERATION "TURKEY FOR ALL SEASONS" RECIPE CONTEST
Open to all foodservice professionals and personnel 18 years of age or older working in the U.S. in a commercial foodservice establishment, including instructors at accredited culinary schools. Students at accredited culinary schools may also enter. Turkey (no whole birds) recipes must be from four seasonal categories: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer.
DEADLINE: May 31
PRIZES: Best of each category wins $1,000.
WEB SITE: http://www.eatturkey.com/foodsrv/contform.html
NOTIFICATION: Winners will be notified via phone or mail on or around Nov. 13, 2001.
See web site for complete rules and to enter online.

BLUE BUNNY RECIPEASE CONTEST
Blue Bunny ice cream invites culinary students and chefs to create new desserts using Blue Bunny ice cream or novelties.
DEADLINE: June 15
PRIZES: $5,000
WEB SITE: http://www.foodservice.bluebunny.com

THE CALIFORNIA WILD RICE RECIPE CONTEST
Professional chefs and cooks (including students) at restaurants and other non-commercial food service establishments are invited to submit your original recipe for an Appetizer, Main Dish, Salad, Soup or Side Dish that uses California Wild Rice as a primary ingredient.
DEADLINE: July 30
PRIZES: Grand Prize: $2000 U.S. Savings Bond; Runners-up: The remaining four semifinalists will receive a $500 U.S. Savings Bond and a commemorative plaque.
WEB SITE: http://www.cawildrice.org

Stir fry desired veggies in olive oil.
Add Hoisin Sauce 1/2 C (118 ml)
Black Bean Sauce 1/4 C (60 ml)
Cooking Wine 2 T (30 ml)
Sesame Oil 1 T (15 ml)
*Sambal Oeleck 1 tsp. (5ml)
Add cooked steam-fried noodles.

CHEF/COOK NEEDED FOR BAR NI RANCH
Location: Stonewall, Colorado (USA)
Timeline: Seasonal: Mid May - November
Position: Chef / Cook
Responsibilities: Lunch & Dinner preparation, ordering, menu planning, general kitchen management
Pay: Salary plus Room, Board, Tips
Contact:
Bar NI Ranch
6614 Highway 12
Weston, CO 81091
(719) 868-2708 (fax)
BarNIRanch@aol.com

JOB OPENING FOR SUMMER COOK/YEAR-ROUND COOK
Camp Id-Ra-Ha-Je is currently looking for cooks for our ten week long summer camping program in the Rocky Mountains. WE have 4 kitchens running at the same time serving ages 7 to adults. We are also looking for a year round cook.
Salaried for the summer.
Contact Kaye Kirsch
Food Service Manager at foodservice@idrahaje.org or 303-838-5668 (posted February 27, 2001)

SOUS CHEF NEEDED FOR CHRISTIAN RESORT
CAMP-of-the-WOODS, a large, 102 yr. old Christian resort in upstate NY is looking for a sous chef. Join our 30 year-round and 250 summer staff in an exciting ministry in the Adirondack Mountains. Position comes with salary, health insurance, retirement, possible housing, etc. Must be a believer who has solid professional experience. Contact Scott Sonju, personnel@camp-of-the-woods.org. 518-548-4311. God bless! (posted March 22, 2001)

Note for the following posting only: This posting was made in our Message Boards, before we had our Job Listings Web Site up and running again. Unfortunately, the only way to contact the person in charge at this time is to send them an e-mail.

SUMMER CAMP HEAD COOK NEEDED
Dates of Service: June 20 - August 25 or parts thereof
Ministry Description: To prepare the meals for the summer camps, to assist in menu planning, to assist in purchasing of food items, to manage assistant cooks, to be involved in the camp chapels and activities as time allows.
The Pembina Valley Bible Camp is an evangelical Christian camp located in Manitoba, Canada. We exist in order to "Turn Hearts Toward God" by offering young people the opportunity to learn more about the Bible and how Jesus can provide the needed answers to some very real problems in today's young lives.
We operate camps for youth going into grades 6 and up. Our camps are 8-9 days in length. We have a maximum of 60 campers at a time. We specialize in horsemanship, canoeing/rock climbing, theater and arts and mountain biking. We have a cabin group Bible study each day led by the counselors and a chapel in the evening which consists of singing and dramas put on by the staff (we prepare them during our 9 day staff training camp). E-mail: pvcamp@mb.sympatico.ca. (posted February 22, 2001)

This one is so simple you'll wonder why on earth you hadn't thought of it before!

Having co-owned a restaurant that featured Mexican food one night a week, we were occasionally faced with some leftover guacamole at the end of the evening. Too expensive to just toss into the garbage, we tried every tip we heard of to keep it fresh looking and tasting: putting the avocado pits in it, adding lemon juice, keeping it super cold, covering it with plastic, etc. Nothing worked; nothing kept it from turning that unsightly, unappetizing brown, gray, or worse yet, black! Until NOW! Just put your leftover guacamole into the tallest, skinniest container you can find for it and then spread a thin layer of mayonnaise completely over the top of the guacamole, effectively sealing off the air. When you're ready to serve it again, just mix the mayonnaise right in -- it will look and taste as fresh as new. We've had it keep well this way for over a week!

Do you have a tip or hint you'd like to pass on to your Christian brothers and sisters who are chefs and cooks? Send it to: ChristianChefs@aol.com. You just might see it featured in the next newsletter. And don't forget to post your hints and tips in the message boards, too!

VegSource.com is, as its title suggests, THE source for vegetarians on the Internet. This comprehensive website is the "Internet home" of numerous prominent, best-selling vegetarian physician-authors (such as Drs. Attwood and McDougall) and includes a "Mad Cow Corral" with the latest updates on the ongoing animal epidemics. The numerous online news updates, recipes, newsletters, discussion groups, and related links (like MormonVeg.com and JewishVeg.com) will not be the only items of interest to Christian chefs: two book reviews currently on the main page are about Dr. Richard Schwartz's Judaism and Vegetarianism, and Keith Akers' The Lost Religion of Jesus (Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity). I strongly encourage you to check VegSource out, as its slogan says, "All Are Welcome at VegSource - Your Friendly Vegetarian and Vegan Resource."

"I am a born-again Christian. I have been working in a camp kitchen since I was 16 as a summer volunteer. I now work as a missionary at a year round Bible camp. I am interested in finding new ways to cook in large batches for groups of up to 175 people...any ideas?"

If you're searching for particular instructions or cooking techniques or maybe have a special need, you can post these on our message boards. Go here:
http://www.ChristianChefs.org/forums.html

If you've done that and are still in need, please e-mail us and let us know so that we may highlight that need in this section of our next newsletter.

One day during cooking class, the teacher, Mrs. Jones, was extolling her secrets for preparing perfect sauces. When she ordered us to the stoves to prepare our assignments, she said, "Don�t forget to use wooden spoons."

As I stirred my sauce, I contemplated the physics behind the mystery of the wooden spoon and decided it must have something to do with heat conduction. I approached Mrs. Jones to test my theory.

"Because," she replied, "if I have to sit here listening to all your metal spoons banging against metal pots, I'd go nuts!"

Borrowed from 'The VJJE Recipe Weekly, The Kitchen Funnies'
http://www.e-cookbooks.net

Permission is granted to circulate this publication via e-mail or in printed form to others providing that no fee is charged and that proper credit has been given to CCF for the part sent.

Donations are sincerely and deeply appreciated and may be sent to the below address. The following link leads to our "Finances" webpage, where you can find how all CCF's finances are handled:
http://www.ChristianChefs.org/finances.html

If this newsletter was forwarded to you and you would like to be added to this mailing list, please go to the following website for a free subscription:
http://www.ChristianChefs.org/subscribe.html

If you would like to be removed from our mailing list, please send an e-mail to the address below, with the word "Unsubscribe" in the subject column.

Christian Chefs Fellowship
c/o Ira Krizo
7890 Co. Rd. 120
Tulelake, CA 96134
USA

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. -1 Cor 10:31 ESV

Christian Chefs International

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Phone: 503.794.4083
Mailing Address: PO Box 1484, Cannon Beach, Oregon 97110-1484
Street Address: 289 N Spruce St., Cannon Beach, Oregon

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Christian Chefs Newsletter
March/April/May, 2001

><> ><> ><> WELCOME <>< <>< <><

><> ><> ><> CHRISTIANITY IN THE KITCHEN <>< <>< <><
GOOD NEWS FOR ALL CREATION
Vegetarianism as Stewardship

><> ><> ><> RECIPE CONTESTS <>< <>< <><

><> ><> ><> FEATURED RECIPE <>< <>< <><

><> ><> ><> JOB LISTINGS <>< <>< <><

><> ><> ><> HINTS AND TIPS <>< <>< <><
Keeping Guacamole Fresh

><> ><> ><> FEATURED WEBSITE <>< <>< <><
VEGSOURCE.COM

><> ><> ><> CHEF TO CHEF <>< <>< <><

><> ><> ><> A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA <>< <>< <><

><> ><> ><> A MERRY HEART <>< <>< <><

><> ><> ><> IN CLOSING <>< <>< <><

Christian Chefs Newsletter March/April/May, 2001